Summary

Source: icsid.worldbank.org (Document, does not apply to summary and/or TDM IACL Case Report below).

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Case Report (free download)

Case Report by Francisco Martínez, Editor Ignacio Torterola

Summary

Claimants, BRIF TRES d.o.o. Beograd ("BRIF TRES") brought an action for relief against the Republic of Serbia under the Agreement between the Belgo-Luxemburg Economic Union and Serbia and Montenegro on the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments which entered into force on August 12, 2007 ("BLEU-Serbia BIT" or "BIT") and the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States, which entered into force on October 14 1966 ("ICSID Convention"), (together, "the Treaties"). Claimants alleged that Serbia had breached, inter alia, obligations related to expropriation, fair and equitable treatment, complete protection and security, and other protections under the treaties above. The Tribunal addressed Serbia's jurisdictional objection to the abuse of process. It determined that it had no jurisdiction over the dispute, alone the competence of the Tribunal, while deciding to award Respondent 90% of its arbitration costs.

Main issues

The case centers on Serbia's consent to international arbitration under the BLEU-Serbia BIT and the ICSID Convention and the legal question of whether the Claimants had invested in these frameworks. A key issue involved the alleged expropriation of shares in BRIF TRES and breaches of the fair and equitable treatment standard. Another significant issue was the role of Beauvallon's actual acquisition of BRIF TRES and its wholly owned subsidiary BRIF-TC, as Beauvallon claimed it made the necessary adjustments to the acquisition through various contractual and corporate structures.

BRIF TRES d.o.o. Beograd and BRIF-TC d.o.o. Beograd v Republic of Serbia - ICSID Case No. ARB/20/12 - Award (Excerpts) and Statement of Dissent of Arbitrator Samaa A. Haridi - 30 January 2023

Case report provided by International Arbitration Case Law (IACL)

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